Our Railways are the Northeast's leading engine for development

Big-budget rail projects are an economic boon for the region even as new links serve strategic aspects of India’s Act East policy

- G. KISHAN REDDY

In 1882, the first locomotive of the Dibru-Sadiya Railway connected distant tea gardens with the Brahmaputra, so that the commodity could eventually reach Kolkata. Over the decades since then, the Railways has reduced travel time from Dibrugarh to Kolkata from 15 days to 24 hours. However, even till 2014, the footprint of the Railways in India's Northeast remained mostly restricted to current-day Assam. In the last 8 years, much work has been done to ensure that this footprint expands across the northeastern region, and the grit and perseverance in realizing this dream needs to be told.

A new dawn: Rapid strides in surface transportation are key to the accelerated development of any region and the Indian Railways is playing a pivotal role in the Northeast. Overcoming decades of neglect and under-development, the government has given an unprecedented impetus to connectivity in the region. Spearheading efforts, the Railways in the last 9 years has spent over ₹150,000 crore in the region on laying new railway lines and building bridges, tunnels, etc, and has sanctioned new projects worth nearly ₹180,000 crore.

This focus on capital expenditure has ensured that the capital connectivity project that aims to connect all Northeast state capitals is a reality now.

As part of this, India is building the Jiribam-Imphal rail line, which has the world's tallest pier bridge at a height of 141 metres. To ensure timely completion of these projects, the government has provided full support and resources. In comparison with expenditure of 2,122 crore per year between 2009 and 2014, there has been a 370% increase in average annual budget allocation, which now stands at *9,970 crore for the fiscal year 2022-23.